the more things change (the more they stay the same)
by AGENT Kuma-chan
Summary: There were things Lloyd could be certain of: 1) it was a miracle he got into university, let alone the same one as Genis and Colette 2) the price of that miracle was having Raine as a teacher 3) the new weapons teacher was following him around
1. wake up

**Title: **the more things change (the more they stay the same)

**A/N:** For the Tales Big Bang! My artist partner and I decided to do a magic-school au, partially to have an au and partially because I want Kratos to stay with everyone, damnit.

**Summary:** _ There were things Lloyd could be certain of: _

_1) it was a miracle he got into university, let alone the same one as Genis and Colette _

_2) the price of that miracle was having Raine as a teacher_

_3) the new weapons teacher was following him around_

…

…

…

…

"Lloyd."

"Lloyd, wake up."

"Oh fuck it."

Lloyd jolted awake as something hard hit his head. No, to be exact, as the square edge of something hard hit his head. Immediately, he rubbed his head, his fingers pressing against his scalp. Was there a bump? He could feel something growing there. Sitting up, he groaned, "Ow. What was that?"

"I never know if I should be amazed or appalled by you." Lloyd blinked as a wall of orange appeared in front of him. Looming in front of him, Raine had a tight smile as she crossed her arms and glared. "You're asleep for every. Single. Class. Why are you here?"

Right. He was in class. Dimly, Lloyd was aware of his classmates staring at him. Next to him, Colette was worriedly looking from him to Raine, while Genis was shaking his head furiously, his arms in an 'x' position. Why were they worried? It was such a simple question. Still a little groggy, Lloyd answered honestly, "Because it's a bird course."

A hush fell over the class. Even Raine froze in front of him. Genis groaned and slapped his forehead. Blinking away his sleep, Lloyd processed what he'd said.

_Aloud._

_To Raine._

Dirk had warned him that his mouth would get him killed one day. Well, that day was looking like today. Swallowing, Lloyd gave a shaky smile as he slowly got up from his chair. There was time. He could save himself. Probably. "Professor Raine, I—"

The sound of knuckles cracking sent a cold chill down his spine. "Oh I see." Raine's voice was low, barely more than a whisper. A golden circle emerged from her hands, growing bigger and bigger with each word. "If that's how you feel…"

"N-no!" Lloyd scrambled backwards but it was too late. A burst of light hit him, sending him flying through the air. He hit the back of the classroom with a hard thud and slid to the ground, moaning.

Raine dusted her hands. "I'll see you for detention, Lloyd."

-x-

Kratos flinched as a loud thudding sound echoed through the school's halls. Instinctively, he crouched, his hand on his sword and eyes scanning the area. "Are we under attack?" he asked, looking behind him when he couldn't find the source of the noise.

"Ah, no…that was…" Yuan crossed his arms, glaring at a door further down the hallway. "Professor Raine's been known to take a more…_hardline_ approach to her students. Or maybe I should just say student—the only one who ever gets punished like this is Lloyd."

"Lloyd?" Kratos asked, slipping out of his stance. Sliding his sword back into its sheath, he followed Yuan as he continued to walk down the hall.

"Lloyd's a first year." Yuan's frown grew more pronounced. "I have no idea how he ended up here—he's an idiot with little talent for magic."

"This isn't just a magic school," Kratos pointed out. "You just hired me for traditional combat."

"No, I suppose not," Yuan admitted, not looking very pleased about it. He glanced back at his old friend, raising a brow. "Though I am surprised you agreed to teach. I thought I'd have to convince you more."

"It wouldn't be my first choice," Kratos agreed, his hand resting on his sword's hilt. "But…I owe you and Mythos."

"Kratos…" Yuan lowered his eyes, a melancholic expression crossing his face. His nails dug into his palm. "That wasn't your fault. Martel…no one could have saved her."

"Wasn't it, though?" Kratos closed his eyes. Even now, he could still picture Martel healing a soldier on the battlefield, an enemy plunging his sword from behind. She'd been just out of reach, just barely, his magic useless to do anything but secure revenge.

"I know what Mythos said back then, but he was a kid. He was angry and hurt." Yuan reached out, squeezing Kratos's shoulders. "What I said too…we were both wrong. We've moved past it, it's time you did too."

Kratos reached up and covered Yuan's hand with his own. It was easier said than done, but he didn't want to worry his friend anymore than he had to. "I'll think about it."

"Good." Yuan let go and walked over to one of the classroom doors. Peeking in, he sighed. "I was right. It was Lloyd after all."

Kratos followed him and looked inside. Inside a huge, lecture-style classroom, the imprint of a person was imbedded into the back wall. Two students flanked a brunette young man, helping him down the stairs. "That's him?"

"Yes. Be careful. Lloyd Irving is in your class too," Yuan added, already heading down the hall again.

"I see—" Kratos froze, whipping his head back to stare at the man.

Lloyd Irving.

_Irving._

It couldn't be, could it?


	2. snowflakes

**Title: **snowflakes

**A/N:** The fun part about magic existing but not being central to the story is that I can use it however I want. Like making jokes.

**Summary:** _Lloyd could handle Raine casting an annoying, petty curse on him. He couldn't handle his two best friends gawking and having fun instead of helping out._

…

…

…

…

"Wow!" Amazed, Colette stood behind Lloyd, running her fingers through his short brown hair. As she did, small flakes of white chalk fell off. "It's like snow."

"Or dandruff," Genis pointed out with a smirk, setting his bag on a seat. Luckily for them, their usual study spot was empty. They'd been using this one round table at the back of the library for months now and almost every time they came, it was free.

Then again, considering how infamous Lloyd and Colette were, maybe people were avoiding it on purpose. Didn't want to catch a case of the stupid, and all that. Genis frowned. Maybe he should rethink his friendships.

Lloyd frowned as he leaned back into his chair, his arms crossed. The chalk dust now coated his shoulders, with more flakes slowly falling in front of his face. It was looking less like snow and more like an avalanche. "She doesn't have to throw the eraser at me every time."

"Then don't sleep through her classes," Genis stated bluntly, carefully setting up the table for their daily study session. His hands moved automatically, setting up textbooks, piling up papers, organizing pencils. "Nap during lunch or something."

"I've tried!" Lloyd moaned, his shoulders slumping. "It's just…her voice. It makes me sleepy."

"Yeah, don't let her hear that." Genis shot him a wry grin. "She'll—"" His eyes widened, caught off-guard by the sight in front of him, and he snickered. "You look like Santa Claus!"

"Huh?" Lloyd watched as his best friend bent over, his snickering turning into fully blown laughter. Put off, he turned to Colette. "What's he talking about?"

"Oh!" Colette immediately covered her mouth as she stared at him, her cheeks puffing from withheld laughter. "It's…It's…" Every time she tried to explain, a tiny giggle escaped her lips. "You…"

"Fine, I'll find out myself." Annoyed, Lloyd pulled out his phone and turned on his camera. Bracing himself, he switched it to selfie mode.

There was no way to be prepared for what he saw. Chalk dust had clumped on his eyebrows and over his mouth, until he had a bushy beard that his adoptive father would have been jealous of. To add to the mayhem, he could see the white dust had completely covered his shoulders now, until it looked like the top half of his shirt was pure white. The phone fell out of his hand with a clatter. Shocked, Lloyd stared at his image before the screen turned black from inactivity. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?"

A librarian popped out of an aisle, a finger on her lips. "Shh!"

"Sorry!" Genis apologized automatically. Not that it really counted for much—his shoulders were still shaking with laughter and Lloyd really hoped that Genis hadn't snuck a photo earlier. Or Colette. Or anyone else for that matter.

"Stop laughing!" Lloyd growled, shaking his head furiously to remove the chalk. Not that it helped much—it was still snowing from his head and the chalk dust layered up once more onto his skin. "What is this?"

"How is your hair not white?" Genis spoke calmly for all of two seconds before breaking into laughter once more. Hunched over, he slowly waddled toward Lloyd, trying to keep quiet as he inspected his hair. "There's no way a single eraser did this."

"Aww, you look really cute." Colette clutched her cheeks, completely in thrall. Before he could stop her, she pulled out a phone and snapped a picture. "I should send it to Dirk!"

"No, wait—"

"And done!" Satisfied, Colette tapped her finger and destroyed his life with a confidence that somehow never applied to any other aspect of her life.

If only there was a way to hate Colette. If only. Lloyd buried his face in his hands. The chalk started to coat the library carpet. It was like someone had poured an entire bucket of chalk on his head. Or out of his head.

"Oh, I think I know what this is." Genis stood back, grinning smugly. "It's a spell. Sis probably put it there."

"Oh!" Colette clapped her hands, a bright smile on her face. "That makes sense!"

"And?" Lloy asked, peeking out of his fingers. There was absolutely no way he could break the spell, even if Raine hadn't made it. If Genis could do it, he'd have done it by now. Probably. Hopefully. Then again, ever since Genis had started hanging out with Mithos, he had started to grow a little more sadistic.

"And she'll probably stop it after you go to detention." Genis shrugged, returning to his seat.

"Ohh, I wonder if we can make a snowman out of it," Colette wondered aloud, examining the growing piles of dust on the ground.

Lloyd moaned, burying his head in his hands.


	3. temptations

**Title: **temptations

**Characters/Pairings:** Sheena/Zelos

**A/N:** I really enjoy writing these two

**Summary:** In which Zelos does his time-honoured tradition of flirting with Sheena and seeing how long it takes for him to break her focus

…

…

…

…

"You know, a new bakery opened up nearby," Zelos commented idly, arms crossed behind his head. The office he shared with Sheena was a small one, little bigger than a water closet. It should have bothered him more—he was the top guy in their class, star of their sports team. For the school, it was an honour that he was a T.A. and they should have given him one of the bigger offices.

And if he was alone in the room, he would have complained. But he wasn't. No, the lovely Sheena was sitting at the other desk, biting her lip as she read some poor first year's homework. If anything, he wanted the room to be a little smaller, but oh well. He couldn't have everything.

"It's a nice day," he continued when she didn't respond. Zelos leaned back in his chair, watching as Sheena twitched. Her nose scrunched, her brow furrowed, and the dual decisions of 'ignore' and 'reprimand' warred on her face. As usual, she was easy to read and easier to tease. "We should go. It's been hours, we deserve a break."

Sheena took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. And then another. And yet another. Judging by the number of times her right hand curled into a fist (eight), it seemed 'reprimand' had won the day. Good. It was much better when she responded. Turning to him, she gestured at the piles of papers and glared. "We have to mark."

"You're right." Ignoring her surprised stare, Zelos sat up properly and picked up his red pen. In front of him was a stack of tests from Professor Raine's surprise pop quiz. Fortunately, it was easy to mark them all—after past complaints, Raine had been forced to give multiple choice and true/false questions for anything that _wasn't_ an exam.

Honestly, the first years had it so easy these days.

Sheena mouth fell slack as he started going through a test. When he didn't add anything, she pinched herself before asking in disbelief, "That's it?"

"Hmm?" Zelos feigned ignorance, biting his pen as he considered an answer. He could hear her shift uneasily from one foot to the other, utterly confused by his actions. Trying not to smile, he looked up from the paper. "What's it?"

"You're just…marking?" Sheena scrutinized him. Abruptly, she stood up and crossed the room, her eyes scanning him for something, anything, that would explain his actions. When her quick examination found nothing, she bit her lip. Concerned, she reached out, one hand covering his forehead, the other covering her own. "You don't seem sick."

"Cause I'm not?" Zelos leaned into her soft touch. It was all too rare when she touched him gently. Well, to be fair, he was entirely to blame for that. Looking up at her, he smirked slyly. "Though I think I might be a bit hot."

She frowned, the innuendo flying over her head. "No, you're not—" Catching his expression, she recoiled as though she'd been burned. "You!" she hissed, glaring at him through narrow eyes.

"Me?" He blinked innocently, looking like the angel his fans claimed he was. Wearing a puzzled expression, he touched his forehead. "You didn't finish checking."

"Zelos!" Sheena clenched her teeth and spit his name out. All the anger in the world couldn't hide her flushed neck, the nervous tick on her cheek. She scowled at him before stomping back to her side. "If you can make jokes like that, then you're fine!"

"Aww, too bad." Zelos shrugged nonchalantly, turning back to the papers. He gestured at the clock with a pen. It was almost three in the afternoon and they were only forced to stay here until five. "You might want to get cracking, we don't have much time."

"Y-yeah." She tossed him a final, confused look, still unable to get a grasp on his behaviour. "I guess so."

As she picked up her pen, Zelos added, "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go. You didn't say no, after all."

Sheena blushed, her mouth gaping like a fish's. "I…I…"

Still not a denial. If only she were more honest with herself. Then again, it wasn't like he was the most truthful person either and well, her hot and cold attitude always kept things interesting. Zelos hummed as he went back to marking papers.


	4. a chance encounter

**Title: **a chance encounter

**A/N:** Time to try to work in the other supporting cast. I almost forgot about this series with all that's been going on. Sorry about that!

**Summary:** _It was like something out of Colette's romance books—a chance encounter, the meeting of two people. Unfortunately, Genis had never been particularly witty or suave._

…

…

…

…

Standing in front of a bookshelf, Genis took in the long rows crammed to the brim with knowledge. Books of different widths and levels lined each shelf, the odd book jutting out awkwardly from a student trying to return one to the right spot. His fingers brushed against the covers, the spines changing from hardcover to soft to hard again. As expected from one of the top schools in the region, the library had dozens, bordering a hundred almost, of books for every topic under the sun. They even had those beginner-level picture books that helped Lloyd understand the basics of every class he took.

Genis smirked as he skimmed the titles in front of him. _Advanced Fire Magic, The Physics of Creating Water, Arcane Landscape Altering: _ a simple narrative wasn't something he had to worry about here. Luckily for him, there was no study group today, leaving him with the chance to finally read these books. He sighed happily inspected book after book. It'd be nice to get a head start on _Dragons: More than just Companions_ before second year bestiary classes started. He always wanted to read _Ancient Cities and the Clues They Left Behind,_ since Raine kept hogging that textbook at home and never let him get a chance to read it. Or—Genis abruptly stopped as his eyes caught _A Guide to Magic Cooking_ embossed in gold.

Could it be? He stared, transfixed. This was the solution to every dinner Raine wanted to make, to every taste bud he'd burned as he forced himself to eat. He had to read it. There was no other choice. Whoever wrote it deserved a Pulitzer. Trembling, he reached up to grab the book.

His fingers came short by at least four shelves. Even standing on his toes didn't change that. Scrunching his nose, Genis squatted down and leaped. Still short by two shelves. Genis growled as he contemplated scaling the bookshelf to get the book. This was ridiculous. His sister was tall, how did he end up so short?

Crossing his arms, he studied his adversary. He could try grabbing it with a spell, but the other books would probably fall out and hit him. And then he'd have to put them back somehow. No, that wouldn't do at all. Glancing down the aisle, he grinned as he spotted a ladder leaning against the shelf further down. Perfect. Quickly, he pushed the ladder to the spot and scaled the rungs with ease. Who needed height when you had tools?

Triumphantly, he leaned out to the right and grabbed the book.

"That's dangerous," a flat voice stated below him.

Startled, he dropped the book. "Wah!" he yelped as he tried to catch the book, leaning even further out. His feet tripped over the rungs and there was a feeling of weightlessness as he accidentally let go of the ladder.

Then gravity took over and he squeezed his eyes shut as he fell. He landed on something strong, the air rushing out of his lungs at impact. The book landed on the ground nearby with a sharp thud. Genis lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"You okay?" the same flat voice asked, a hint of concern filtering in.

"Y-yeah," he muttered, slowly opening his eyes. His eyes widened as he saw just who he was speaking to. Above him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Pink hair framed a doll-like face and her blue eyes contrasted brightly against her porcelain skin. Despite her thin frame, her hands were strong and steady as she held him. "A-a-a-a."

She cocked her head curiously as he stuttered, unable to make it past the first syllable. "A?"

_An angel,_ he thought, tongue-tied. He'd been saved by an angel. His eyes widened as he realized he was in that angel's arms. In a panic, he fell out her arms and fell flat on the ground. "S-sorry," he squeaked, flushing a bright red as he quickly scrambled backwards and hit the bookshelf, causing several books to fall on him.

God, that was the worst possible impression. The absolute worst.

"That sounded like it hurt." The woman leaned forward, offering a hand to pull him up. Her voice still sounded perfectly flat, with very little intonation, but there was something soothing about it. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"

His skin burned at the touch and he swallowed as he stood up. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Genis shook his head quick. "No, no, I'm good."

She leaned closer and he could see now the ice blue shade of her eyes, the soft tendrils of her hair. "You don't have any bumps at least."

It was too much. Utterly too much. Genis felt his entire body flamed up and he sidestepped before he could make an even bigger fool of himself. "Thanks! I'll see you later!" And with that, he turned on his heel, grabbed the cooking book from where it had landed unceremoniously, and high-tailed it out of the library.

-x-

There were many things Mithos expected as he walked into the library today. He'd get his history essay done (entirely full of unsung heroes. If his sister were alive, she'd be proud), start working on next week's assignment, and maybe get a little planning done for his next DnD campaign. Since the semester started, he'd been procrastinating but he couldn't put it off any longer.

What he didn't expect was for a silver blur to barrel right into him, knocking the breath out of him. Mithos fell, his back landing on the ground hard. The other person landed on him, creating a messy heap of arms and legs. "Oof," he groaned, laying there for a moment dazed. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his head as he stared at the person lying prone on his lap. He squinted. He knew that messy silver hair anywhere. "Genis?"

"Yeah?" Genis grunted, slowly rolling off him. He lay flat on his back. "Mithos?"

"Why were you running?" Mithos poked the back of his head, wincing as he touched a particularly tender spot. That was going to be a big bump tomorrow.

"S-sorry." Forcing himself to set up, Genis sighed as he inspected his own head. There was a bruise on one of his hands.

"Oof!" Genis moaned as he rolled off his best friend. His ribs hurt. This was such a Collette thing to do. Lying on his back now, he winced as he sat up. "Sorry, Mithos. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"You can say that again," Mithos scoffed, rolling his shoulders back and forcing the kinks out of them. Looking down the pathway to the library, he spotted nothing suspicious. Perplexed, he turned to his best friend. "What were you running from?"

"I…" Genis faltered as he mumbled an inaudible excuse, his fingers picking imaginary lint off his shirt.

His eyebrow twitched. It had better not be something stupid. "You?"

"I…bumped into this girl…" Genis spoke louder this time and Mithos watched as he started to flush a pale pink. "This pink-haired woman—I fell off a ladder and she caught me." He buried his face in his hands. "Ahh, that was so embarrassing."

"Wait, you're running because of a girl?" Mithos closed his eyes and counted to three, not sure if he heard correctly. "That's it?"

Genis blushed an even brighter pink. "Y-yes." He scrambled to his feet and reached out to pull Mithos up too. "I just…I think I said something stupid, and I had to run."

Genis. Stupid. Mithos didn't think he'd ever hear the day both words were said in a sentence. Genis's face was probably pinker than that girl's hair. At that thought, he paused. A pink-haired woman.

A pink-haired woman at this school.

Scratching his cheek, he glanced at the library again. It couldn't be, could it? "Say, what was her name?"

"Her name? It's…" Genis's eyes widened and his mouth went slack as a look of horror crossed his face. "I didn't even ask her that!"

Well, that was absolutely no help, but that was okay. Genis wasn't the only smart one. Switching tactics, Mithos rephrased the question. "Okay, then was she—"

"Shit." Genis glanced at his phone. "Raine's going to kill me if I'm late. Sorry, can we talk about this later?" His voice cracked a little to the end.

Mithos shook his head. "It'll be quick—"

"Sorry, I have to go." Genis flashed him an apologetic smile before taking off again.

Mithos could only watch his friend's retreating back. Scratching his neck, he shrugged. Maybe there were other pink-haired girls than the one he was thinking of. He was probably completely off.

Besides, it could wait till their next club meeting.


End file.
